"You can make something that looks different to what everyone else is wearing. Knitting hits that spot really very well."

When Mr Wilson took over the business, it had a turnover of around £2m, but it was "quite run down", he said.

"The other directors were of the view that the business should close. I thought the trouble was in the board room and not in the fundamentals of the business," said Mr Wilson.

Following a company buy–out, Mr Wilson, a trained accountant, slowly but surely managed to get things back on track. From 2006/7, the turnover began to grow steadily by around £1m each year, and now stands at £8m.

One of the great things about knitting, Mr Wilson said, was that it is actually does better in harsh economic times.

"Knitting is a bit counter cyclical, as it tends to do reasonably well when times are a little bit harder," he said. "When people can't afford to go out, they want to stay in and do something at home."

Like many businesses, King Cole is dependent on the weather. "A nice long cold winter will make our figures will go up," Mr Wilson said. "But if we have an extended summer that goes on into October, our figures will go down."

In order to ensure a diversified business model, Mr Wilson shifted the focus of the business to becoming design–led. Design sales have increased tenfold over the last decade.

"We have grown our brand position in the market 10 years ago, from being one of the smaller players to now being one of the bigger players," he said. "We have also increased our market share."

With a staff of 31, King Cole has recently relocated to a new and bigger site in Skipton, Yorkshire.

Mr Wilson said the secret of his company's success is to create patterns and yarns that complement one other, so that retailers, and in turn customers, are encouraged to buy the two together.

"Unless you come out with the full package you are limiting what the yarns can do," he explained. "You are trying to sell an image that you hope people will want to look like."

In the UK, King Cole's clients are mainly independent yarn shops, although Mr Wilson said he "would not rule out" supplying some of the bigger chains or department stores.

However, when it comes to exports, which make up 20pc of the business, King Cole supplies a broader range of retailers, from small to large.

America, Canada, Europe and the Far East currently account for most exports, but Mr Wilson is eyeing new markets.

"It is quite strange some of the places we end up," he said. "Anywhere we think there is a demand we will go for it. Tastes do vary from country to country."

The wool itself is sourced mainly from overseas, mostly from Turkey and some from South America. The firm has just launched a yarn from Mashom in Yorkshire, which "goes from fleece to warehouse without over leaving Yorkshire", according to Mr Wilson.

His family have been spinners for over a hundred years, beginning with his great grandfather Thomas Wilson, who founded his own spinning company.

In the 1960s, Mr Wilson's father and uncle bought shares in King Cole, but by the 1990s he said the company was "failing".

Mr Wilson, who had already become involved in the manufacturing side of the business, decided to buy out the other directors and attempt to turn the business around.

"There were a lot of fundamentals we had to get right very quickly," he said. "You don't get an awful lot of growth while you are doing that."

But when growth did eventually come, Mr Wilson said it was "quite enjoyable".

King Cole Ltd is one of the London Stock Exchange's top '1000 Companies To Inspire Britain'